STORM 400 HEADLAMP

Product Information

Additionally they have a blinking mode that is activated when the on/off switch is quickly double tapped when the single power white LEDs are already on. A brightness memory even allows you to turn this lamp on and off, safe in the knowledge that it will remember your chosen brightness without reverting to full power. It’s also waterproof and dustproof IPX67 which in this case also means you can dunk it in water for an hour and a half, which is a pretty long time.

Importantly, the on/off function can be locked by simply holding both buttons down for a few seconds; there's little worse than reaching into your pack to find your torch has been knocked on accidentally and is nearly out of charge, so I do question the wisdom of any design without a lock.

I used the Storm 400 for the last pitches of the day, the hikes out, and late-night Jetboil cookups. Mid output, around 200 lumens, has a quoted range of 60m - still pretty decent even if that promised figure is ambitious - while the 6 lumen low of 12m is the sort of setting you want for sitting around in a tent and saving batteries. Living in the Lake District means my gear often has to deal with inclement weather when I’m out and about, and the SPOT 400-R was subject to some typical Cumbrian conditions on more than one occasion. The casing is plastic and seems pretty hefty, but I haven't been too rough on it yet, so no comment on the durability quite yet. The latter is prevalently supplied for recharging newer GPS watches and GoPros, and it would be nice if we could have just one fitting for all our outdoor tech!

Having had the previous Storm I was a little weary of how this would perform as the last one killed off batteries like crazy, and this was because of a fault with the unit. This headlamp is much more durable than the last headlamp I owned (Princeton Tec's Byte), which failed on me after a few weekend backpacking trips.However, I'm really looking forward to taking advantage of the waterproof feature for kayaking and paddle boarding this summer. With an IP67 rating, it'll survive submersion to 1m for up to 30 minutes - which should be enough even for Eryri (Snowdonia) in December. The Storm 400 is engineered for epics in all conditions, featuring a robust waterproof/dustproof housing and 400 lumens of bright light. I believe in bringing extra batteries, but one should never go into their backup based on accident or stupidity. So as well as giving you 100 lumens less output when fully charged, the Spot 400-R has a significantly shorter battery life than the bulkier Storm.

Overall, this is a headlamp that has worked well for multiple uses ranging from lighting the pages of a book to illuminating a hiking trail at night. The central spot is used when you need those 160 lumens, such as hiking at night, trying to find that belay point, or like I did, exploring abandoned gold mines in Death Valley National Park. The new Storm 400 is more compact and ergonomic and an updated user interface includes a secondary switch for easier mode selection. Another advantage of the quick tap is that you can use it to help save battery life, by having the torch set at a lower output and then only tapping to full-distance for brief periods when you really need to pick out your route far ahead. The inbuilt battery on the Storm 500-R charges via a micro USB, taking 3 hours for a full charge from empty (and with clear and useful charge level indicator lights).As per the Storm, this is measured according to the ANSI FL-1 test standard, which means that by the time 4 hours have elapsed you're on 10% of initial output. Assuming all batteries degrade over time, a torch without an integrated battery may end up lasting longer too. I don't think I've ever managed to break a micro USB input, and as I have plenty of old micro USB cables, and nothing that yet takes the new style, it's not presently an issue for me if this input is looking dated. We consider the Storm's additional performance functionality to be beneficial, and we consider the Storm to offer better bang for the buck than the Spot. The Black Diamond Spot 400 is a small and compact headlamp, that is one of the most powerful headtorches for it's size and weight.

It uses 4 AAA alkaline batteries, but it will readily accept rechargeables and we found lighting performance was even better using the well regarded Panasonic Eneloop AAA NiMH batteries.Given the variety of different lights and adjustable outputs this headlamp has, it is well suited for a variety of activities. It’s not just the volume of functions that stands out, but how genuinely useful they are, once you know how to use them. From the first advice to the tech questions after receiving the product, our passionate team stands by your side and helps you make the right choices to suit your needs. There are times of course when solid durability trumps weight saving, and for me that's pretty much whenever I'm up a hill at night in winter conditions or testing weather.